This is a spirit...,
usually mischievous and occasionally malevolent, which manifests its presence by making noises, moving objects, and assaulting people and animals. The term "poltergeist" comes from the German poltern, "to knock," and geist, "spirit." Some cases of poltergeists that remain unexplained and may involve actual spirits. In other cases the phenomena may be produced by subconscious psychokinesis (PK) on the part of an individual.
Included in the most common types of poltergeist activities are the rains of stones, dirt, and other small objects; moving or throwing of objects, including large pieces of furniture; loud noises and shrieks; and vile smells. It seems that poltergeists have adapted to the development of technology. They are known to have caused interference in telephones and electronic equipment, and turning lights and appliances on and off. Some poltergeists are said to pinch, bite, hit, and sexually attack the living.
Generally poltergeist activity starts and stops abruptly. The duration of it may extend over several hours to several months; however, some cases have been reported to last over several years. The activity almost always occurs at night when someone is presence. Typically this is the "agent," an individual who seems to serve as a focus or magnet for the activity. In most cases the agent is a factor, both those that seem paranormal or that may be caused by human PK. The agent is usually female and under the age of twenty.
Poltergeist disturbances have occurred globally since ancient times. In the late 1970s parapsychologists Alan Gauld and A. D. Cornell did a computer analysis of those cases collected since 1800 to that time. They identified sixty-three general characteristics, which include the following: 64 percent involved the movement of small objects; 58 percent were most active at night; 48 percent featured raps; 36 percent involved movement of large objects; 24 percent lasted longer than one year; 16 percent featured communication between the poltergeist and agent; 12 percent involved the opening and shutting of doors and windows.
Before the 19th century, poltergeist activity was blamed on the Devil, demons, witches, and ghosts of the dead. The Gauld-Cornell analysis found only 9 percent of the cases attributed to demons, 7 percent to witches, and 2 percent to spirits of the dead. Most of the demon and witches attributions occurred in non-Western countries. Poltergeist activity at séances was attributed to spirits of the dead.
The development and increase of psychical research during the late 19th and early 20th centuries helped confirm the conviction that poltergeist activity was genuine. Among the early investigators were two founders of the Society for Psychical Research, Sir William Barrett and Fredric W. H. Meyers. Meyers believed in the genuineness of poltergeist activity and that it was distinguishable from ghost hauntings.
In the 1930s the psychologist and parapsychologist Nandor Fodor advanced the theory that some poltergeist disturbances were caused not by spirits but by human agents suffering from intense repressed anger, hostility, and sexual tension. Fodor successfully demonstrated his theory in several cases, including the most famous "Thormton Heath Poltergeist" in England, which he investigated in 1938. The case involved a woman whose repressions caused a poltergeist outbreak and apparently a vampire attack. The Spiritualists severely criticized Fodor, but he won a libel suit against a Spiritualist newspaper.
William Roll, project director of the Psychical Research Foundation in Durham, North Carolina, further explored this psychological dysfunction theory. Starting in the 1960s, Roll studied 116 written reports of poltergeist cases spanning over four centuries in more one hundred countries. Roll identified patterns that he labeled "recurrent spontaneous psychokinesis" (RSPK), which are inexplicable, spontaneous physical effects. Generally, he discovered, the most common agent was a child or teenager whose unwitting PK was a way of expressing hostility without the fear of punishment. The individual was not aware of being the cause of such disturbances, but was, at the same time, secretly or openly please that they occurred.
Other investigators have also investigated agents finding that those in poor mental and physical health are vulnerable to stress. Patient having unresolved emotional tensions have been associated with houses where poltergeist activity occurred. When studying the personalities of agents psychologists found anxiety reactions, conversion hysteria, phobias, mania, obsessions, dissociative reactions, and schizophrenia. In some cases therapy eliminated the poltergeist activity.
However, the psychological dysfunction theory has been disputed by other researchers, including Gauld and Cornell who said the psychological tests employed were invalid. Psychiatrist Ian Stevenson proposed that spirits of the dead may account for more poltergeist activity than realized. In his study of a number of cases attributed to agents and to spirits of the dead, Stevenson noted significance differences. The phenomena in living agent cases was without purpose and often violent, while cases involving spirits of the dead featured intelligent communication, purposeful movement of objects, and little violence.
The Epworth Poltergeist
One of the best-documented accounts of a poltergeist manifestation occurred at Epworth Rectory in the early part of the 18th century. Epworth was the home of the Rev Samuel Wesley, who was the father of John Wesley and this is the birthplace of John Wesley. It may seem strange to include the vigorous founder of Methodism among the ranks of psychic investigators and ghost hunters, but it is thanks to him that we have such a well-documented record of one of the most famous hauntings that ever occurred in this country.
John Wesley was only 13 years of age when the incidents took place, starting in December, 1716, and ending in January, 1717, but he was to remember those two months for the rest of his life.
The first sign of “Old Jeffrey”, as he was nicknamed by Emily Wesley, was when Robert Brown, a servant, heard a knock on the kitchen door one night, followed by a groan. The date was 2nd December, 1716. He opened the door to find nobody there. The door was knocked three times further that night with similar result, and feeling a little scared, the servants retired for the night. Whilst in bed Robert Brown heard the sound of what appeared to be a turkey gobbling, and the sound of somebody stumbling over some boots. The following day one of the maids heard a knocking on a shelf, and was that scared that she dropped a tray she was carrying and fled.
The following evening, Holly Wesley was sitting in the dining room reading after tea, when the door opened and she heard the rustling of a silk dress. She saw nobody but was aware of a person walking around her. She got up and slowly walked from the room, reasoning that there was no point in running, as whatever it was would be able to catch her anyway. At supper, while she was telling her sister, Susannah, about the incident, a knocking was heard under the table and the door latch was seen to move up and down continuously. The girls told their mother, who said that she would have to wait to see it for herself before she was convinced. She didn’t have to wait long. One of the girls called her to the nursery, where she heard the sound of a cradle being rocked. There was no cradle in the room and there hadn’t been one there for many years.
Mrs Wesley told her husband, who was very annoyed and reprimanded her for trying the scare the children. However, it was not long before he too was to witness the phenomena associated with “Old Jeffrey”.
It was the custom in the Wesley household to have prayers every evening and one of the prayers was for the King. This had been a big arguing point between Mr and Mrs Wesley because whereas he supported William of Orange, Mrs Wesley was a sincere supporter of James II. In fact, previously an argument had broken out between them on this point, and consequently, when the prayers for the King were said, Mrs Wesley omitted to say “Amen”. However, when “Old Jeffrey” came on the scene, it was obvious that he, too, was a firm Jacobite and whenever prayers were said for King William, loud knocking sounds were heard all over the room and as a result prayers for the monarchy were discontinued, much to the satisfaction of “Old Jeffrey”, who kept quiet during prayers after that.
The knockings and disturbances carried on at Epworth and they became more frequent, both by day and night. They became so regular that the children ceased to be scared by them any more and actually started playing a game of chasing “Old Jeffrey” around the house. It was recorded that the dogs were more scared of the poltergeist than the children. One of the girls, Hetty, actually saw a man walking down the stairs, wearing an old-fashioned night-shirt.
Whoever or whatever “Old Jeffrey” was, the poltergeist went as quickly it had come, and by the end of January, 1717, the visits had ceased completely.
Sources:
The Mystica
Wikipedia
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